EYFS Curriculum

The Early Years Foundation Stage sets the standards that we must meet to ensure that children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe. It promotes teaching and learning to ensure children’s ‘school readiness’ and gives children the broad range of knowledge and skills that provide the right foundation for good future progress through school and life.

The EYFS seeks to provide:

quality and consistency

a secure foundation through learning and development opportunities which are planned around the needs and interests of each individual child and are assessed and reviewed regularly

partnership working between nursery staff and parents and/or carers

equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice, ensuring that every child is included and supported

EYFS principles

Four guiding principles shape practice in our early years setting.

These are:

every child is a unique child, who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured

children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships

children learn and develop well in enabling environments, in which their experiences respond to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between staff and parents and/or carers

children develop and learn in different ways (see ‘the characteristics of effective learning’) and at different rates

Characteristics of Effective Learning

The characteristics describe how a child learns

Playing and exploring

Finding out and exploring

Playing with what they know

Being willing to have a go

Active Learning

Being involved and concentrating

Keeping trying

Enjoying achieving what they set out to do

Creating and thinking critically

Having their own ideas

Making links

Choosing ways to do things

The Areas of Learning and Development

There are seven areas of learning that shape what we do in nursery, known as the Prime areas and the Specific areas. All areas are important and inter-connected.

The Prime areas are:

Communication and Language

Physical Development

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

The Specific areas are:

Literacy

Mathematics

Understanding the World

Expressive Arts and Design

Communication and Language Development involves giving children opportunities to experience a rich language environment; to develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves; and to speak and listen in a range of situations.

Physical Development involves providing opportunities to be active and interactive; and to develop their coordination, control, and movement. Children are helped to understand the importance of physical activity, and to make healthy choices in relation to food.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development involves helping children to develop a positive sense of themselves, and others; to form positive relationships and develop respect for others; to develop social skills and learn how to manage feelings; to understand appropriate behaviour in groups; and to have confidence in their own abilities.

Literacy Development involves encouraging children to link sounds and letters and to begin to read and write. Children are given access to a wide range of reading materials to ignite their interest.

Mathematics involves providing children with opportunities to develop and improve their skills in counting, understanding and using numbers, calculating simple addition and subtraction problems; and to describe shapes, spaces, and measure.

Understanding the World involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places technology and the environment.

Expressive Arts and Design involves enabling children to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials, as well as providing opportunities and encouragement for sharing their thoughts, ideas and feelings through a variety of activities in art, music, movement, dance, role-play, and design and technology.